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Senators News: June 30th

-Justin Schultz has made his decision and signed with the Edmonton Oilers. It’s not much of a surprise given how thin the Oiler blueline is–there’s probably no other team that provides as much opportunity.

-Apparently Matt Carkner felt a one-year deal without a raise was something he could afford to reject. Nichols rightly points out how Carkner‘s impact has decreased each year with the Sens with no sign of that changing. His TOI has decreased, his penalty killing time has decreased, and “Moreover, he plays soft minutes against the opposition’s worst players. His Corsi relative quality of competion was the worst amongst the Senators’ d-corps regulars for each of the past two seasons.” Nichols also points out that his salary is in line with similar players, but I do not share his hope of a happy compromise between Ottawa and Carkner. It’s time to move on.

-Randy Lee talks about Jean-Gabriel Pageau and indicates he’s bound for either the AHL or ECHL, “He’s never going to be a huge player, but he’s better at the stuff we want him to be better at, like being able to contain bigger players, like battling. He’s such a skilled guy. In (Thursday’s) scrimmage he did a pretty good job against bigger guys, and we like that. The puck follows him and he does a really good job that way. But he’s got to be able to be an offensive guy in the AHL, so it’s going to be a challenge. The biggest thing we want to do with our players is put them in a position to succeed. There’s no use going to a level where they can’t play. If you’re an offensive guy, you have to play in offensive situations.”

-Talking about himself, Pageau said “I think I’m ready for that step. I know I have to be stronger and put on some weight. I’m not a big guy, so I have to be more powerful, so my training will be a big part of it. If I’m going to make the next step, I have to be ready mentally and physically.” There are a lot of undersized forwards bound for Binghamton so it will be tough for Pageau to make space for himself in that lineup.

-Randy Lee also commented on Frederik Claesson in the same article, “We had a nice meeting at the hotel in Calgary, and he looked at me and said, ‘I need to play in the AHL next year. To make the transition, I need to play on that ice surface, I need to play that number of games, I need to play in that type of environment.’ Which was really refreshing to hear. A lot of guys say, ‘I’m just going to come when I can play pro.’ But you know what? You have to invest in yourself, and you’re going to be further along in the end if you take those steps along the way.” Lee compared Claesson to Mark Borowiecki in terms of his competitiveness (high praise indeed).

-Shane Prince talks about his prospects for the upcoming season, “After four years in the OHL, I think I’ve kind of grown out of that league a little bit and I’m looking to move my game on to the professional level and work my way up to the NHL. You always have to prove something. There are always guys coming into the system, different guys each year. You’ve always got to show yourself because there are guys ready to take your spot. I’m never going to take a session off and I’ve going to do everything I can to make team (in training camp). I’m definitely going to strive to make the (big-league) team. I’m not going to sell myself short, but if I do get sent down to Binghamton, I’m going to do my best to help that team win and give it everything I have to work my way up.”